Gandhian spins recovery with charkha in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: His fate appeared to have been sealed. It seemed to be the end of his story. Yet, this Gandhian soldier fought his lone battle for survival and rose like the proverbial phoenix. His weapon was the charkha — the spinning wheel, and his method ‘Chakropchar’.
Pronounced ‘brain dead’ by doctors at Mahavir Hospital in Surat, Narayan Desai, 90, is one of those rare patients who fought back successfully after a cerebral stroke.Narayanbhai suffered the stroke on December 10 last year and has been in hospital since. Narayanbhai, the tallest surviving Gandhian and son of Mahadev Desai, the personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, had once remarked: “Spinning can cure all ailments.”
“During his previous illnesses too, Narayanbhai relied on the chrakha. His health improved after he spun yarn and he coined the word ‘Chakropchar’.
This time too, we witnessed a magical improvement in his condition once he sat up in bed and started spinning. He spun with some difficulty, but we could see the gleam in his eyes. It was as if he had got the right medicine,” said Narayanbhai’s oldest son Nachiketa.
Dr Parag Pandya, who attends to Narayanbhai, told TOI: “Medically, it was highly improbable. It seems as if he derives willpower from the charkha and there has been a remarkable improvement.”
For the last 15 days, Narayanbhai has been spinning the charkha. He is now out of the ICU and been shifted to a special ward. “While spinning the charkha, the motion of my hand and the entire process becomes one with my mind. It becomes meditative,” he had once said.
He had often cited Gandhi’s views on the charkha: “If one has to establish a communion with God through some means, why not through the spinning wheel?” Gandhi had said in the May 8, 1937 edition of ‘Harijan’.